Priest-physician criticizes 'overly aggressive' end-of-life treatment

Published: 2005-05-23

NEW YORK (CNS) -- The treatment of Pope John Paul II during his last days demonstrated that medical personnel are not ethically required to "do everything" when someone is dying, a priest-physician said May 19. Jesuit Father Myles N. Sheehan, senior associate dean at Loyola University's Stritch School of Medicine in Maywood, Ill., noted that the pope did not die in the intensive care unit of a hospital, but remained in his apartment. The pope's doctors also did not go through "the whole menu of possibilities" to carry out every medical procedure, according to the priest. In his final days, when the pope was informed of the gravity of his condition, he asked if hospitalization was necessary. When doctors said it was possible to care for him in the Vatican, the pope decided to stay in his apartment, a spokesman told reporters at the time. "Overly aggressive intervention can be medically and morally wrong, and distract from the patient's preparation for the end of life," Father Sheehan said.

Copyright (c) 2005 Catholic News Service /U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. The CNS news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed, including but not limited to such means as framing or any other digital copying or distribution method, in whole or in part without the prior written authority of Catholic News Service .